Loughton Manor First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Loughton Manor Infant School provides an outstanding quality of education. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive. One commented, 'I have had nothing but positive and pleasing experiences with this school, not just for my children's education, but also friendship and support for the entire family through often difficult personal times.'

The school's success in both supporting children's learning and reaching out to their families and the wider community was a recurrent theme in parents' comments, reflecting its highly effective promotion of community cohesion. Pupils make rapid progress because of highly effective teaching, underpinned by thorough assessment of learning and an outstanding c...urriculum. They thrive in the Nursery and Reception classes and are very well prepared for subsequent work in Years 1 and 2.

By the end of Year 2, their attainment is above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers and support staff are extremely good at ensuring that all pupils achieve very well, whatever their starting points. The help for pupils who find learning difficult and for those with visual or hearing impairment is exemplary.

As the result of excellent care, guidance and support, pupils develop into confident and independent learners who get on very well with each other and apply themselves diligently to all aspects of school life. Their behaviour is outstanding and this contributes significantly to their learning and progress. Pupils demonstrate a high degree of trust in the staff and move around with the confidence that comes from feeling thoroughly safe and secure.

The school has developed excellent relationships with parents and carers. They are warmly welcomed as they accompany their children into school each morning. The staff team work exceptionally well together under the inspired and dedicated leadership of the headteacher.

Routines are very well established and the strength of the team's drive and ambition is most evident in the highly stimulating learning environment it has created. Staff are constantly looking at different ways of stimulating and developing children's learning. A drive to ensure that the more-able pupils fulfil their potential in mathematics has borne fruit.

Staff are now, rightly, intent on boosting all pupils' confidence in using their numeracy skills to tackle mathematical problems. Children's outdoor learning is promoted exceptionally well throughout the year and the school is proud of its reputation as a 'muddy school'. All pupils have wellingtons on hand every day in order to make the most of the extensive outdoor facilities.

The school's capacity for sustained improvement is excellent. The governing body is extremely well informed and highly supportive of the school. It challenges the school through its monitoring of pupils' progress and ensures that management systems are robust.

Development planning builds very well on the priorities identified in the school's highly accurate self-evaluation.

Information about the school

Loughton Manor First School is a large infant school that serves a suburb of Milton Keynes. Around two thirds of the pupils are of White British heritage, with the remainder being from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds.

A quarter of the pupils speak English as an additional language and 10% of all pupils are at an early stage of learning English. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. Most of these pupils find learning difficult.

There are a small number of pupils with visual or hearing impairment. Provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage comprises two Nursery and two Reception classes. The school has Healthy Schools status, the Active and Quality marks, the Arts Mark Gold and is an Investor in People.

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